Multivitamins May Help Prevent Cancer

Oct. 17, 2012 (Anaheim, Calif.) -- Taking a daily multivitamin for years may lower the risk of cancer, according to new research.

The study followed nearly 15,000 middle-aged and older men for about 11 years. It is not yet clear if the findings would apply to women or younger men.

"The main findings were a reduction in total cancers of 8%,'' says researcher J. Michael Gaziano, MD, MPH, a researcher at Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School.

''Our main message is that the main reason to take a multivitamin is to prevent nutritional deficiency,'' Gaziano said at a news briefing today at an American Association for Cancer Research meeting held here.

"It appears there is a modest benefit for cancer reduction in men over 50," he said.

The findings are also published today in the Journal of the American Medical Association.